Tommy's first tooth

It's the end of an era,

and I don't mean that in a geologic sense.

Florida's Mosaic Phosphate Company, the world's leading producer of concentrated phosphate,

is shutting its doors to amateur fossil hunters.

Mosaic has, for some years, granted an annual field trip to local fossil clubs.

(Fossil Club of Lee County members at Mosaic)

A spot on the field trip roster, usually limited to 30 club members, has been a hot ticket item since I joined the Fossil Club of Lee County 4 years ago and I've always been grateful for the opportunity to go.  That being said, as with any fossil hunting expedition, there's no promise of a slam dunk.  I've found my 2 best megalodon teeth in a Mosaic pit but I've also gone and pretty much been shut out.

October 15, 2016, marked our club's last trip to Mosaic and this time, my boyfriend, Tom, was going.  He is new to the hobby and more than anything, I wanted him to find his first megalodon tooth.

I often experience a type of visual confusion

when I begin to search a new area: jumbles of rocks; everything looks the same.

It can take a while for the occipital lobe to kick in and distinguish between "leaverite" and "OMG!"

I immediately ran off on my own, as I am wont to do, leaving Tom to his own devices, and since he has a very sharp eye for this sort of thing, I knew he'd do well.

My method has always been to climb around in steep areas

where it is hard for other people to search.

I was scanning along the top of a gravel ridge that formed a steep 6" drop down to an evaporation pond when my occipital pinged and made me do a double, triple, quadruple take.

There was a beautiful mako at the very edge of the water but how to get to it?

One of the first instructions the mine staff gave us was, "Don't go into the pond."

The mako wasn't actually in the pond but there wasn't an easy way to get down to it without risking a face-first tumble into the water.

Dilemma...

I hate being the wayward child and possibly making our group look bad, but then again,

this was our last visit and time waits for no man!

I skidded down the bank and managed to come to a stop on a tiny ledge of dry land, within reach of my beautiful new 2.25" mako.

But wait! There's more!

Tom was busy collecting not one, but 4 good quality megs.

Between the two of us, we found dozens of megs (none perfect, most broken, but a few decent),

(some of the better finds)

several rough horse teeth,

lots of fossilized wood chunks, and an awesome 2" long

double dermal denticle (say it 3x fast) from a stingray.

In the past, I would have offered up most of what I found to the kids' dig at Fossil Fest

but since this is the end of an era, I'm keeping everything from my last Mosaic hunt in its own bin

and will be forever grateful that I got to participate in such a unique experience.

Hide...

...and seek.